Event Details

The ability to precisely tune quantum material properties at ultrafast (i.e., sub-picosecond) timescales is key to opening new routes toward high-speed optoelectronic, spintronic, and quantum devices. Ultrashort laser pulses have the potential to engineer various interactions at the meso- and nano-scale, steer phase transitions along preferential pathways, and coherently control structure-function relationships. This tailored quantum material design by light relies on different manifestations of the light-matter interaction, requiring an exquisite control over the properties of the light field itself. In this talk, I will discuss how the laser excitation of specific collective modes can yield new forms of nonequilibrium functional control in quantum materials, leading to the modulation of optical, magnetic, ferroelectric, and topological properties. In particular, I will focus on the resonant driving of spin-correlated excitons in van der Waals magnetic insulators. I will show how this protocol enables the realization of an emergent antiferromagnetic metallic phase and the simultaneous coherent manipulation of magnetism, thus introducing the framework of magneto-excitonics. Finally, I will describe the opportunities offered by novel schemes based on quantum cavities to explore the strong light-matter coupling regime and hybridize spin-correlated excitons with the photon field.